College and Career – How to Start Your Job Search Early
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The best part of being a child is that you have no responsibilities, either to yourself or to anyone else. And so you’re free to do as you please, within the rules set for you of course, until you reach the age where you must take a decision regarding the rest of your life. Once the chore of high school has been completed, some kids decide not to go on to college, but the ones that do need to make up their minds on the career path they want to go down, either during their four years at the institution or after them. |
If you’re the dedicated and determined sort who needs a career strategy mapped out pretty early in life, here’s how you can use college as a stepping stone to aid your search for your dream job:
• Talk to the people who matter: Every college has career guidance counselors and placement officers who are there to help you in your career choice and path. The former can help you decide which field is best suited to your skills (that is, if you’re undecided), while the latter can put you on the right track to getting a job. You could also attend career fairs through your four years of college to see where you’ll fit.
• Get an internship or summer job in your sophomore year: and every year thereafter. If you’ve decided on a career, then choose companies that are relevant to your chosen field for your summer programs. If not, try out different companies so that you can discover through practice what your true passion is. Sometimes the best jobs come by accidentally, and you realize that you’re temperamentally suited to the work involved only after you’ve started.
• Prepare your resume: This is a process that starts in your freshman year – you need to go all out to participate in extracurricular activities that boost your confidence and communication skills, maintain records of all your achievements and accomplishments, and prepare a resume based on your skills and successes. You can consolidate your achievements with each passing year so that your resume looks professional by the time you’re ready to leave college.
• Prepare for graduate school: Some people want to start working as soon as they have completed one degree; others want to complete a graduate program as well before they embark on their careers; and yet others work for a few years before they decide to go back to school and earn another degree to help them further along their career path. It’s a personal choice, one that you need to make by your junior year if you want to have enough time to prepare for a graduate admission test.
• Work to a plan: This is the key to your entire job search strategy. You must have a plan of action and work towards your goals during each stage of college by utilizing every opportunity that comes your way and some that don’t.
Article Source: Holly McCarthy
